Improvement in telegraphic signals



JONES 61 HEDGES,

Telegraphic Transmitter.

No. 59,148. Patented Oct. 23, 1866.

N. PEIERS. Pholoilkhugnphur. Washington. D. C.

UNITED STATES PATENT BUCKINGHAM, ENGLAND.

IMPROVEMENT IN TELEGRAPHIG SlGNALE.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 59,14S, dated October23, 1806.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that we, RALPH A. J owns and Josnrl-r HEDGES, both ofAylesbury, in the county ofBuekingham, England, have invented certainnew and useful Improvements in Communicating Intelligence by MeansofElectricity; and we do hereby declare that the following is afulhclear, and exact description thereof, which will enable othersskilled in the art to make and use the same, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in whichFigure 1 represents a plan or top view of our tablet. Fig. 2 is asimilar view of a modification thereof. Fig. 3 is a sectional sideelevation of the electric style which we use in oper' ating on thetablet.

Similar letters of reference indicate like parts.

This invention relates to certain improvements in the alphabetemployedin telegraphiug messages used in connection with the Morseapparatus, as will be hereinafter more fully described.

A tablet is formed by inserting in wood or other nonconducting materialcertain pieces of brass or other metal or conductors of any desired orconvenient form, which are connected with an electric battery or othersource of electricity in such a manner that by passing or drawing overthem a pen or style of suitable construction the electric circuit isalternately opened and closed and the required signs are produced.

These pieces of brass or other conducting material may be made of such asize and relative dimensions that the length of contact will show at thereceiving-station on the pre pared paper or othersubstance dots anddashes similar to the Morse alphabet. These are not new, however, and Imake no claim therefor. In addition to the dot and dash composing theMorse alphabet, a still longer stroke is employed, so that three symbolswill be used instead of two, and by means of this longer stroke theMorse alphabet may be shortened, and affixes, prefixes, and arbitrariesmay be greatly increased, thereby diminishing the time required to senda message.

T represents our tablet, which may be made of wood or othernon-conducting material.

In this tablet are inserted pieces of brass or other metal coloredyellow and marked I) b. The lengths of such pieces of brass areproportional to the length of the dots and dashes which form thecharacters of the Morse alphabet. Thus we form the letter b, which isrepresented in the Morse alphabet by a dash followed by three dots, by along piece of brass followed by three short pieces. Each piece of metalis insulated by being inlaid in the tablet, which, as before stated, isof non-couducting material, and separated from the following piece ofbrass or metal by an intermediate piece of insulating material, (marked2' t and colored gray.) In the case of vowels, and in order todistinguish them more readily, which would facilitate the transmissionof messages, we color the intermediate pieces of insulating material inthese letters with some prominent eolor-such, for instance, as red. Thusin the vowel 0, which is represented by three dashes, the intermediateinsulating portions (marked B) may be colored red or any otherconvenient and readily-distingnishcd color.

The pieces I) b, of brass orother metal, may be all either metallicallyconnected with each other and with one pole of the battery, where a Rainor other instrument employing one current is used, or the long pieces,represent; ing the dashes, may be connected with one pole of thebattery, and the short pieces, representing the dots, with the otherpole, when instruments are used where two currents can be employed-as,for instance, Morses or double-needle instruments. \Vhcre two currentsare employed a divided battery would be used.

In addition to the dot and dash used in the Morse alphabet, we employ alonger stroke, which will be made of a piece of brass or metal of agreater length than that regresenting the ordinary dash. This will beunderstood by referring to that part of the tablet where the word and orthe prefixes enter, inter, intw,are represented bya symbol composed of ashort piece of brass or metal, 0, and a second piece, (1, longer thanthat representing the dash, as seen in the letters of the alphabet. Bythe introduction of this long stroke the Morse alphabet may be remodeledand shortened and the number of arbitraries increased, whereby greaterrapidity may be obtained in transmitting a message. In the same manneras the portions of the insulating material between the pieces of metalin the vowels are colored red,the corresponding portions in thearbitraries may be colored in any other desirable color, such as green,or they may be colored like the spaces in the vowels.

A modification of our tablet is shown in Fig. 2, where O and Z arepieces of brass or other conducting material inlaid in the tablet T,which is to be made of some non-conducting material. The pieces 0 and Zare connected with the opposite poles of a divided battery, whereby twocurrents may be employed, and by tapping or touching them with ametallic point or with a inake-and-break pen, in accordance with theMorse alphabet as now used, or with our improved form of letters, inwhich i three symbols are used, a message may be sent between distantstations. One piece of metal, 0, may be used for the dashes and longstrokes and the other for the dots.

Fig. 3 represents the make-and-break pen or style S, which we use intransmitting a message by means of our tablet. It is made of anyconvenient material, such as wood or metal, and is formed hollow.Through the center thereof runs a wire, 1), which connects at one endwith a fork, n, that forms the bearing for aroller, q, and the oppositeend of said wire terminates in a cup, which may be filled with mercuryor other good conductor of electricity, and which is closed by a metalscrew, it. By connecting this screw with one pole of a battery, theother pole of which connects with the several pieces of metal in thetablet, and by carrying the roller end of the style over the tablet, themessage is transmitted. The style may, however, be constructed invarious different ways, and We do not wish to confine ourselves to theprecise construction shown in the drawings.

What we claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

An alphabet or characters composed of a long stroke used in conjunctionwith the dot and dash forming the several characters of the Morsealphabet, substantially as and for the purpose described.

In witness whereof we, the said RALPH AU- GUSTINE J ONES and JosnrrrHnnens, have hereunto set our hands and seals this 1st day of January,in the year of our Lord 1866.

R. A. JONES. JOSEPH HEDGES.

L. s. [L. s]

